Jewish Identity

I was contemplating the talking points I was fed as a child, around both nationalism and religion, and I believe the key feature of these narratives was oversimplification. The most salient example of these was the grouping of all Arabs and all Jews into two homogeneous masses. There was no...

As I continue to publicize my criticism of Israel and Zionism, a specific kind of criticism has emerged from people in my life, frequently enough that it has become a pattern. The gist of their argument is this: "We agree with you in theory that Israel is doing many terrible...

Why must drag our next generation through the dregs of the holocaust? So that it doesn't happen again? Baloney. It's happening right now. It could happen again in a heartbeat. And if it happened to anyone else but your own ethnic kin, you'd be a lot less bothered. So let's...

Around two years ago, one of my siblings was struck in a hit and run accident. They spent a day in the hospital before any of us family members even found out about it. When we did, there were a few panicked hours as we tried to figure out...

She approaches, the wife of the president. Sherlon, her name is. Sherlon Goldfarbstein. "What a beautiful son you have," she exclaims, gesturing towards my daughter. She gestures enthusiastically towards my other daughter, thinking she’s my partner. “Such a beautiful son you've made.” Upon clarifying the second of her two mistakes, that my partner...

With the help of AI, I am now able to attend to my true calling of being a children’s storybook author. This book is about pride. Jewish pride. The best kind.

Cards against Humanity is one of my favorite games. It's funny, it's simple, and it's not very competitive. When it's my turn to judge, those who know me know that certain cards are automatic winners. Cards I deem so hilarious that everyone else can just give up and go home. Auschwitz....

At this point, I have left both the religion and the nationalist views I was raised with. What follows is a short contemplation on  the similarities and differences between these two processes. My journey of leaving both was primarily an emotional one. The values and beliefs of Orthodox Judaism and...